


encapsulated by your apathy

by insomnia_anonymous



Series: i never want to see you unhappy [3]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Daisy's POV, F/F, F/M, Gen, POV First Person, Rarepair, aida's pov, enjoy, i love my robot daughter, let's keep this going, soulmark, when aida become human she gets a soul - so she gets a soulmark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:33:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27688993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/insomnia_anonymous/pseuds/insomnia_anonymous
Summary: she didn't have a soul when she was a machine but she's human nowsoulmates AU
Relationships: AIDA (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)/Skye | Daisy Johnson, Framework AIDA/Framework Leo Fitz
Series: i never want to see you unhappy [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1937908
Comments: 11
Kudos: 15





	1. Chapter 1

**ENCAPSULATED BY YOUR APATHY**

_ recommended listening: frustrated by R.LUM.R _

I stared down at the handwriting on Agent Fitz’s wrist. It was engraved in his skin, the message was simple but the handwriting elegant.

_ “Since we have no choice in who our partners are let’s just agree to work hard on this project” _

It was confusing and I couldn’t calculate why anyone would get this tattooed onto themselves. So I asked, “Why would you get that message tattooed on your wrist?” I watched as Agent Fitz looked down at his wrist and then up to me, a confused look on his face.

“It’s a soulmark, do you… sorry, did Radcliffe not give you knowledge of soulmarks?” He asked and I tilted my head, shifting through the large mass of knowledge in my data-banks. Nothing about soulmarks came up.

“No, I have nothing about soulmarks within my collection of knowledge,” I replied and he let out a breath, setting down the tablet he had been working on. Humans were strange, this topic seemed to make him nervous, I could see it in the way he palmed his hands against his slacks and immediately began fidgeting with various items on the workbench in front of him.

“That’s, he probably didn’t think it was relevant,” Agent Fitz muttered under his breath. “You receive your soulmark between the ages of 3 and 7, in some very rare cases it can be at birth or later than 7 but those are very rare.” He turned on his stool to face me fully and I nodded to show I was listening. “The first words of the person who is your soulmate will appear on your body, it links you to them, gives you the hope that you have that one person in the world to love and who will love you back.” 

“Love is a foreign concept to me but I understand now.” I nod. “I also understand why Dr. Radcliffe thought it unnecessary for me to have this knowledge as I have no soul, seeing as I have no mark, thank you for telling me this information it was very fascinating.” The corner of his mouth turned down and his eyes seemed to carry a sadness in them at that. “You have no need to be sad, I’m here to be your shield, nothing more.”

“No, I know, I appreciate it AIDA, thank you.” He cleared his throat and nodded before turning back to the tablet on the bench, picking it up, and starting his work again. 

Still, my eyes stayed trained on his soulmark.

— 

In my world there were no soulmarks, people were free to choose. No one would be forced to be what they didn’t want to be and I could be his.

I stared at Leopold’s blank wrist as he reached out and caressed my cheek. “Your mind wanders Ophelia, where does it go?” He asked, eyes shining. He chose me. Yes, I put myself in his life but he still chose me out of everyone else in his life. 

I reached up and grabbed onto his hand, kissing his palm and then his wrist where that mark no longer laid. “You,” I admit and he grins showing his teeth. In this world, only I see this Leopold and it is magical, he is mine. “I’m so glad you **chose** me.” As his lips left mine his hand stayed in place on my cheek. This was what it felt like - it had to be. When he kissed me it was the closest I think I’d ever come to feeling anything. The Darkhold had given me a glimpse of feeling, a taste, it was cruel because I wanted it — all of it. 

“Always,” Leopold promised and for a moment I let myself believe.

— 

I took a breath in, felt it, my lungs burned. I could feel them. I needed to breathe. I took another, slower breath and reveled in it. I was alive. I hadn’t expected it to burn so much, no, something was wrong, I was burning, my lungs — no my ribs. I jerked my chin down to look at my ribs, words were sprawling fresh against my skin and I sucked in a breath. 

A soulmark freshly pressed across my left ribcage, all the way across my stomach, wrapping around to my right ribcage. Before I could begin to process the words a voice came from behind me. “Ophelia?” 

Leopold. My Leopold. My heart fluttered — _oh_ , a new feeling, the tips of my fingers were tingling, were these butterflies in my stomach? — and I turned to face him. “Leopold.” I breathed out.

“Fitz?” Another voice from behind him and I felt something new. Panic. It flushed through my system. Hot — no, it was cold, like ice-cold water rushing through my veins.

“Ophelia.” He held up a hand but I rushed to him and wrapped him in my arms before anyone else could take him from me, instinct took over and we were gone from there with the sound of a scream following us. 

—

My hair was wet. That was the first thing I realized as I regained consciousness. It came back to me, taking Fitz, our heated conversation, saving Agent Mackenzie, and then blackness. “Ophelia?” 

His voice made me sit up and I stared at him. “Leopold.” I smiled but he didn’t smile back. 

“Jemma, she — uh, iced us, felt it was necessary.” He explained as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

“Oh.” I nodded and moved to sit next to him, we sat quietly for a moment until I glanced down at his wrist and saw  **it** . “It’s her, your mark, isn’t it?” His breath caught and he looked at me with fear. “You promised.” My voice trembled and I felt wetness on my cheeks. “You  **chose** me.” 

“But I didn’t.” He whispered with a sad look on his face. “It was Jemma first, it was always her.” 

I couldn’t look at him, it hurt. Was this being human? He had promised. I felt something welling up inside of me and I shuddered as I held it back. The sound of the door opening caused me to quickly wipe my eyes and turn to look. It was Jemma Simmmons, she didn’t even acknowledge I existed, only having eyes for Leopold.

“Jemma.” Leopold stood wiping his hands on his pants. 

“Fitz.” Jemma smiled sadly at him for a long silent moment before reaching her hand out to him, he took it and she pulled him out of the room, the door closing behind them. 

I was alone. I no longer tried to hide my tears, letting them fall freely and as that feeling from before welled up inside of me again I held nothing back. 

Surprising myself as I let out a wail before curling in on myself.

— 

Someone was tapping against the glass window. I hadn’t moved since curling into a ball on my side, not moving from the edge of the bed, staring at the wall. I ignored the tapping but that didn’t stop it. So I turned over and glared at the person who was tapping.

Agent Johnson looked amused where she stood on the other side of the glass. “Okay, whatever, I’m just here to tell you that since you apparently have a soul, somehow, Coulson decided not to just kill you.” As soon as she stopped talking my ribs lit on fire and I sucked in a breath.

I stood and lifted my shirt to look at the words that had engraved themselves into my skin hours earlier, they glowed a burning golden.

“What did you do to me?” I hissed out glaring at her and she sucked in a breath. “What have you done?”

“No, no fucking way, no.” She stumbled back from the glass a hand on the back of her neck. It couldn’t be, she couldn’t possibly be? I tried to soften my demeanor and lowered my shirt as I took a single step towards her. “ **No**!” She let out a strangled breath.

Before I could take another step she turned and ran. “Wait, please!” I called out pressing myself as close to the glass window as possible. “Please come back!” I slammed my hand against the glass. I felt the power beneath my skin crackle to life. For a moment I considered freeing myself, it would be easy, nothing could keep me contained for long. But then her face when she realized who I was shot to the forefront of my mind. Her eyes had been wide and wild but also filled with disgust. 

I disgusted my soulmate.

—

Being human was strange, it came with fallacies that I hadn’t experienced before. I knew of them but hadn’t considered them. 

At first, I hadn’t moved from my spot against the wall where the window was, curled up beneath it, waiting for her to come back. But eventually, my legs grew numb. A new sensation, unpleasant but bearable. It wasn’t until I had to use the restroom that I realized how foolish my plan was. I couldn’t stay in the same spot forever, I was no longer a machine. I had to move but that didn’t mean I had to leave.

So I stayed. Time began to mesh together and I was even brought meals at appropriate times. I tried to remember everything I knew about Agent Johnson, what information I had been programmed with. I knew her name - Daisy Johnson, formerly known as Skye, codename Quake. Inhuman, her abilities are to manipulate the frequencies of the things around her — a fascinating ability. She is also a masterful hacker, as well as having Agent Melinda May as her supervising officer. But these were all things anyone could know, things found in a file.

I wanted to know more about her. What made her mine. Why we were for each other. Gently I brought my hand underneath my shirt, tracing the words engraved across my stomach, rib to rib. Closing my eyes I let out a slow breath. 

_ “Okay, whatever, I’m just here to tell you that since you apparently have a soul, somehow, Coulson decided not to just kill you.” _

If I had just looked at them before, maybe I would have known. It didn’t matter. I would wait here for her. 

— 

Time had lost all meaning now. It had been far too long to count. I’d even requested and been granted a haircut. Books piled in the corner of the containment pod, I lived vicariously through the characters that went on grand adventures. I wasn’t being kept here against my will. Not anymore. Still, I stayed. I waited.

“Why don’t you leave?” Agent May asked as she handed me my tray of food.

“And go where?” I asked.

“Anywhere, it’s what you wanted wasn’t it?” Her arms crossed and I let out a hum.

“More than anything.” I gripped the tray tighter.

“Then why are you still here, you can leave at any time.” Agent May’s gaze felt like it was looking directly into my soul. It felt invasive.

“And go where, do what, with who?” I responded quickly slamming the tray down onto the floor. “I have no one to guide me through this world but you want to send me out as though this world isn’t filled with nothing but insanity.”

We stared at one another for a long moment before she let out a tired sounding sigh. “You’re cleaning that up.” She gestured to the food now spilled on the floor before turning and exiting.

—

Still, the longer I waited the more I wondered. Would any of this be worth it? Was she ever going to come back? If she did, would she still stare at me with that disgusted look? It felt like an eternity had passed, even though I knew it hadn’t. Sitting now where I once sat against the wall beneath the glass window. It had become my place to sit and think. My hands in my hair, my eyes staring at the white floor. 

I had willingly stayed caged for her. But she had never once even indicated she knew I was here still. Was I truly so repulsive? So unloveable? It seemed no one could love me. Only in my own made-up world was I granted that gift.

“They say you won’t leave.” 

It felt like my heart skipped a beat and I let my hands fall from my head, turning I looked at her, she was there in my cage with me. Older, her hair was different, still as beautiful as before, that was one thing I had never had trouble noticing — Daisy Johnson was gorgeous. I was speechless. 

“Why are you still here?” She folded her arms a frown on her face. “I told Coulson to just let you go.”

I was confused but there were more important things than whatever information I was missing.

“He offered, many times, to let me leave,” I responded. “I declined.”

“Why the hell would you do that?” She was angry.

“I was waiting for you.” Wasn’t it obvious? I thought it was obvious. “I’ve  **been** waiting for you.” 

She stared at me with her arms crossed, mouth pressed into a thin line, the silence felt heavy. “You, that —.” She stopped and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

“What else was I supposed to do?” I asked furrowing my brow.

“Live, god, you could’ve lived.” Her arms dropped and she took several steps toward me but stopped herself when she noticed my eyes narrow. 

I was angry — at her. How  **dare** she. Standing I felt my hands shake. “How would I know what that is?” I tilted my head and looked down at her. For a moment I let myself enjoy our height difference, looking down at her was a thrill, especially while I was angry. “How could I  **possibly** live in this world — what was I to do?” My voice rose as I spoke. “I have  **no** one, I  **wanted** Leopold but the universe or fate has given  **him** Jemma Simmons.” I felt the familiar sadness creep up inside of me and my voice cracked. 

The anger I had felt left me and my shoulders deflated, my voice back down to a whisper. “Leopold told me what soulmarks were when I was nothing more than a machine. He told me that the universe gives you the mark so that you have hope that you will have  **one person** in the world to love and who will love you back.” My hands had been clenched into fists at my side without my realizing, fingernails biting into the palms of my hands, shaking with the force. She looked just as sad as I felt, her eyes watery and for a moment I felt guilty. “Did the universe make a mistake?”

“I don’t know.” She admitted with a shrug and I held my breath. “But I’m willing to find out.” She held her hand out toward me. “First, why don’t we get you to experience some of that life you’ve been missing out on?” It was an offer, friendship, nothing more, maybe not even that. But a guide in this world. What I needed. I stared at her hand for a long moment before grabbing it. 

I was done being caged.


	2. dazed and confused

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> she had a soulmate - he might be dead but she didn't need another one
> 
> soulmates AU - daisy's perspective

**DAZED AND CONFUSED**

_recommend listening: dazed and confused by ruel_

I didn’t want to be the one to talk to AIDA but Coulson wasn’t leaving May’s side and she was still recovering. Fitz and Simmons were both on leave, trying to fix whatever had happened and getting some serious psychological help — good for them and their coping mechanisms. Mack — I wasn’t an asshole, okay? Elena was with Mack. 

It was kind of funny though, seeing this all powerful she-bitch laying here, miserable in the middle of the bed in the containment pod. Apparently she hadn’t moved from this position and it really put into perspective who had the power now. I tapped on the glass window but she didn’t move, so I kept tapping until she rolled over and glared at me. How did this thing end up with a soul? I had no idea but apparently she did — at least, that’s what Fitz told us. She has a soulmark now. But whatever, this was still super amusing. 

“Okay, whatever, I’m just here to tell you that since apparently you have a soul, somehow, Coulson decided not to just kill you.” 

AIDA leapt out of the bed and lifted her shirt, a quick inhalation of breath like she had been burned and she glared at me. 

“What did you do to me?” It came out as a hiss. “What have you done?”

My neck was burning, what the **fuck** was happening? I gripped my neck as it burned. I’d felt this sensation before, once — 

_“What’re you doing to me?” I can’t move, my team needs me and I can’t move but Gordon is just standing there like nothing is wrong._

_“We’re healing you.” Those words, they burn on the side of my hip and I glance over to the speaker. I’m stunned, it’s him, my soulmate. They keep talking, he keeps talking, something about popcorn and then Gordon is leaving. He assures me that I’m in good hands — of course I’m in good hands, he’s mine. “He’s been by your side since the moment you got here.” Who? Oh, Gordon. He’s not important anymore, I need to know my soulmate's name._

_“Who are you?” I ask and he freezes. This moment is our moment._

— “No, no fucking way, no.” I stumble back from the glass, in the back of my mind I’m aware of AIDA lowering her shirt, the way her demeanor softened. I had been trained by Melinda May, I was always aware of my surroundings, even when I felt like I was drowning. God, what have I done? Lincoln was mine and I was his. This isn’t supposed to be happening, what is wrong with me? How could I have another soulmate after him? What kind of monster am I? 

AIDA took a single step toward me and I let out a strangled breath. 

“ **No**!” 

Before she could get any closer to me I turned and ran, ignoring the way my heart ached at the sound of her calling to me.

_“Wait, please!”_

I tripped but managed to grab the wall, this ache, fuck.

_“Please come back!”_

I pushed through it and made my way to my room, closing and locking the door behind me. The ache lingered. Would it leave? I don’t think it would. I hadn’t denied the call when I met Lincoln. He hadn’t tried to force me to fully connect, to open up fully, but slowly I’d let him in and then he was there, always, thrumming in time with me. Always. I’d never felt this ache from him — was it from rejecting the connection?

I couldn’t tell but it wasn’t fading. Maybe this was my punishment from the universe. The one I had been expecting for so long. I would **gladly** take it but fuck, why did they have to bring Lincoln into it?

—

No one knew. At least, I didn’t think they did. Things were moving along. Missions to go on and people to save. I had considered bailing again — I didn’t deserve to be around them, not after what I had done, not after replacing him so easily — but in the end it was just inconvenience of timing that made me stay. Mission after mission, training, falling into bed exhausted. All of this while still feeling the constant ache — did AIDA feel it too? Or was it just for me?

I didn’t confirm my theory of no one knowing until I nearly got choked to death. Passing out with super-strength imbued hands around your neck isn’t exactly how I wanted to go and so waking up was actually a relief, a first in a long time. But then I realized my neck would’ve had to have been examined for extra damage and that relief turned into a burning shame. 

“Daisy.” 

Simmons, my best friend, who’d had the same soulmark since she was seven years old and the man with a matching one who **did** this to me. He made AIDA. 

“Daisy! You need to calm down!” 

Oh, that shaking was my fault wasn’t it? I looked over at Jemma, she was blurry now and I wanted to laugh. I was crying? What right did I have to cry? 

“Jemma, you gotta put her under, she’s gonna take down the plane.”

Fitz, you bastard. I glared at him and he cringed away from me. But before I could jerk myself free from the gurney I’d been placed on I felt a sting in my arm and I glanced down. Fuck.

“Rest, we’ll be back home soon.” 

I really wanted to laugh in Simmons' face now. Was that meant to comfort me? All I could think as the darkness came over me was — _don’t take me back to her._

— 

“It wasn’t any of your business that’s why.” It wasn’t that I hadn’t wanted to tell them, didn’t they understand? I wanted it to go away.

“Tremors, we know soulmarks are private but this is…” Mack paused and looked at Elena for help but she shrugged.

"It’s none of your **fucking** business.” I was gritting my teeth. The only saving grace in this whole thing was that Jemma had been kind enough not to write it in my medical record. Lincoln was still listed as my soulmate. 

“It’s just, this is extremely rare, you’re in the 1% of the population.” Normally I find Simmons being excited about scientific things endearing. I probably would find this one endearing if it was anyone else. But I can’t. “It’s truly—” She cuts herself off before she can finish and I glare at her.

“What?” I spit out but Fitz steps in front of Simmons slightly with his hands up, as if I’m going to attack and my gaze whips to him. “Do you think I’m going to attack you?” He starts to shake his head but I roll my eyes.

“Daisy, enough.” I want to refuse to acknowledge May or Coulson but they are there.

“This, this is far from enough.” I clench my hands into fists. The vibrations are being sent back into me once more, I won’t hurt them, I won’t but I’m so angry. “I didn’t want this, I never wanted this. You think I **want** this?” My head feels like it’s exploding. “I want him back but he’s gone and now she’s taken him. This is your fault, you made her, why did you make her?” Pushing the palms of my hands into my eyes until I see spots does nothing to help. **_“It’s disgusting!”_ **

I’m awake for the first bone cracking but I think I pass out for the second one. 

— 

_It’s not healthy._

I watched the camera feed of AIDA’s containment pod. My eyes burned from lack of sleep and how much I’d been staring at this screen. Watching her like this, it felt wrong but also so right. The way she moved, the way she did anything, it soothed me. It burned me alive. 

My mandatory therapist thought it might be a good idea for me to see her from afar at first but they didn’t realize how much it would backfire. I can’t stop. It’s like an addiction. She’s right there — so close to me. I hadn’t seen her face since I ran out, my neck burning. Sometimes she’d run her fingers over her soulmark, I’d see her hand go under her shirt and just know she was doing it. My mark would tingle until she stopped. 

When she stopped I wanted to reach through the screen and make her continue but I didn’t move from my bunk. Watching her do the same things over and over again. When did I become this? This thing that enjoyed watching something so beautiful, caged, locked away. Because that’s what this was wasn’t it? We were keeping her here. I felt sick as she started the same book over again for the third time. I couldn’t even tell you how much time had passed between now and our first moment. What **happened** to me?

_You need help._

I’d thrown the tablet at Coulson after he said it but May caught it before it hit him. He looked at me like I’d only just proved his point and I realized I had. He started talking about research, long-term suffering between soul-mates who don’t connect, but I couldn’t focus. I think they noticed it because May had a hand on my arm and was forcing me to sit. 

“Daisy, hey, look at me.” Looking at May I tried my best to focus. “What Phil is trying to say is that you have to get out of here, for a while at least.” I wanted to protest but she squeezed where she had her hand on my arm and I closed my mouth. “Medically, unless you want to go down there and connect with AIDA right now, you have to go.” 

Why wouldn’t I want that? My focus started to fade and I had to shake my head to clear the fog away. But then I looked over at my nightstand — there he was. I had forgotten about him. How could I forget about Lincoln? What kind of soulmate was I? 

For the first time in a long time, I felt like I could think clearly, at least a little and I turned my gaze back to May but instead I looked behind her to Coulson. 

“Okay, just, once I’m gone — stop keeping her here.” I wouldn’t keep her caged here. She **wasn’t** mine.

_We just want to see you happy._

Apparently, Fitz and Simmons had gone into a very deep research mode when I’d broken my arms. They refused to let anything like Hive happen again. And though it’s rare for someone to have a second soulmate, it’s even more rare for someone to outright reject their soulmate. But it has happened. 

They gave me an entire lesson on what they’d discovered once I was sent to a SHIELD base on the other side of the country that Coulson wanted me to help get into top shape. 

“The one who rejects the connection suffers all the consequences. We believe you were in the middle of forming your base connection when you rejected it. We theorize that your end of the connection must have been cut off, part of you — part of your connection was left with AIDA.” As Simmons finished she looked over to Fitz with a worried look. 

I was missing an actual piece of me. No, she couldn’t have that. That was supposed to be with Lincoln, just him, forever. 

“But — but, every scholar we’ve consulted with has insisted that each soulmate has a different connection with their soulmate. Every test they’ve done has come up with different energy readings!” Fitz’s voice broke me from my rage. “So, any connection with AIDA wouldn’t have done anything to the one you had with Lincoln.” His voice was soft. Oh, so Lincoln still had me with him. 

"Yes, we also discovered the reason behind the ache.” Simmons quickly broke-in and I could’ve kissed her for it. I could feel the tears in my eyes but I cleared my throat and focused. “Your connection wasn’t healing on its own while you were near AIDA, it was waiting for the connection to finish, but it never did and so now that you’re away from AIDA, it should start healing itself.” 

So I was supposed to stop aching soon. That was good news. 

— 

I was denied any requests for updates on AIDA for the first while. Something about it affecting the healing rate or something. But I call bullshit on that. It wasn’t until the fifth time they refused to tell me anything that I called them out on it. 

“She hasn’t gone anywhere.” May folded her arms and I widened my eyes.

“What do you mean she hasn’t gone anywhere?” I had told them to let her go.

“We told her she could go, multiple times now, but she refuses to leave.” May shrugged and I narrowed my eyes. “I’m not lying, she won’t leave. We’ve tried.” 

“She’s right.” Coulson came on screen, he loosened his tie and sat next to May. “She just refuses to leave. So we started getting her more books and when she wanted a haircut, we got her a stylist.” 

Why wouldn’t she leave? It was what she wanted. To be human, to experience the world as a human. 

“How’s the ache by the way?” Coulson asked and I opened my mouth to give the same response I always did but stopped. 

Tilting my head as I closed my eyes, I had grown so used to it that I didn’t notice when it left. Smiling, I opened my eyes.

“Gone, it’s gone.” I watched as Coulson grinned and May’s lips twitched upward for a second. “I didn’t even notice it was gone, it’s been there for so long that I didn’t even notice it go.” I almost missed it. It had kept me aware of her in a way that wasn’t like with Lincoln, it hadn’t been a full betrayal. 

“You know you’re welcome back here whenever, right?” Coulson squinted at me and I nodded.

“Yeah, I just… have a couple more things to sort out.” It wouldn’t be fair to AIDA to come back now. Not until I was really ready to face her. But would I ever be ready?

— 

It was Fitz that convinced me to come back. I’d always known he was a sensitive person, he cared so much about everyone — I knew he still cared about AIDA (Ophelia to him), though he stayed away because it would be confusing for everyone involved. Still, he checked in on her in his own ways. So when he started calling me weekly, just talking to me, I knew something was wrong. 

“Fitz, you know that I enjoy our talks but what is this really about?” I had to know what was wrong and when he let out a loud breath I knew something was definitely off. “Is it Simmons?”

“No, no, it’s — everything is fine with the team.” My shoulders immediately relaxed. “I think she’s giving up.” My heart sunk. He had said it so quietly, so softly, it sounded so small.

I closed my eyes. 

“What do you want me to do?” 

“Nothing you don’t want to.” His immediate reply made my heart clench. “Just, have you ever thought about trying to be her friend? No one said you had to come back and jump into a relationship with her.” I hadn’t thought of that. It wasn’t unheard of for soulmates to date or to even just be platonic but it all depended on the person, the people in the relationship. Was my connection with AIDA even romantic? It was hard to ignore the way my body reacted when looking at her — she was gorgeous. But finding someone gorgeous and finding them loveable were two different things. “Just think about it Daisy.” 

“I will, I promise.” I had more to think about than ever.

— 

I was nervous. She hadn’t noticed me yet. She was sitting there with her hands in her hair and eyes on the white floor of the containment pod. Fitz had been right, she looked like she’d given up. Why? She had the entire world to explore. I needed to know. 

“They say you won’t leave.” 

Her hands fell from her hair and she turned her head to look at me. It was a little intimidating letting her eyes roam over me so freely, after the Framework where she’d hunted me, it almost felt like being her prey again. But then I noticed how soft her expression was. It was nothing like Madame Hydra in the Framework. She didn’t say anything though and I was feeling exposed.

“Why are you still here?” I folded my arms and frowned at how quickly my defenses had come up. “I told Coulson to just let you go.” It was hard not to laugh when her face was so comically expressive — it was easy to tell she was confused just by her face. She looked at me like I was some sort of puzzle and maybe to her I was.

“He offered, many times, to let me leave.” She responded. “I declined.” 

That explained nothing. 

“Why the hell would you do that?” I needed answers.

“I was waiting for you.” Oh. That wasn’t what I was expecting. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

All this time? Why would she wait all this time for me? My mouth pressed into a thin line as I tried to understand but I just couldn’t. 

“You, that —.” I stopped and took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

“What else was I supposed to do?” She asked furrowing her brow and I dropped my arms.

“Live, god, you could’ve lived.” I took several steps toward her but stopped as she narrowed her eyes at me. Oh god, I’d pissed her off. I’d forgotten she was taller than me and as she towered over me I tried not to let my fear show. 

“How would I know what that is?” Her head tilted. “How could I **possibly** live in this world — what was I to do?” Her voice rose and I resisted the urge to take a step back. “I have **no** one, I **wanted** Leopold but the universe or fate has given **him** Jemma Simmons.” 

It was like the anger that had filled her was sapped out of her at that. Her slumped and her voice went to a whisper. 

“Leopold told me what soulmarks were when I was nothing more than a machine. He told me that the universe gives you the mark so that you have hope that you will have **one person** in the world to love and who will love you back.” She was right — Lincoln had loved me and I had loved him, I still do, so much. Just thinking about how much I love him still makes tears come to my eyes. “Did the universe make a mistake?” 

Oh, she was speaking about us.

“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “But I’m willing to find out.” Friends, please accept this, please. I held out my hand. “First, why don’t we get you to experience some of that life you’ve been missing out on?” I watched her consider it, staring at my hand for a long moment, I held my breath and waited.

When her hand slipped into mine, it felt right. I smiled. It was time to start living.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _i got the inspiration for this after someone commented (READINGREADER) and i wanted to push myself to actually write from daisy's pov. this might end up being a multi-chapter, snippet of their lives type thing and i might be shipping AIDA/Daisy more than i originally intended..._   
>  _shout-out to **[@browneyedgirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/browneyedgenius/pseuds/browneyedgenius)** for beta-ing this work - as well as the first chapter. i only just realized i never posted credit there._

**Author's Note:**

> _hello! welcome to something that came to mind in the middle of the night. basically the idea of **what would happen if there were soulmates & aida got a soul when she became human** which yeah - i'm unsure about the pairing in this one but i've been wanting to play with daisy's self-worth for a while and hey. platonic soulmates work too._


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